Summer Flower
by Blackspiderman
Summary: They say bravery is not the absence of fear, but rather the choice to do something despite the fear. What happens, though, when it's the fear of potential rejection by someone you care deeply for? Fluff fic. One-shot. Takes place shortly after "Forever Royal."


**Sofia The First**

**Summer Flower**

**Disclaimer: _Sofia The First _was created by Craig Gerber and is owned by Disney. I own no part of _Sofia The First_**

**Original Postdate: August 24, 2019**

* * *

Young Prince Desmond sat outside on the steps leading into Royal Prep. He held but a single flower in his hands. It was his least favorite game of all: the waiting game. The wait for the right person to exit those doors. It couldn't be just anybody. No, today was a special day. Or at least Desmond _hoped_ it would turn out to be a special day.

They say bravery is not the absence of fear, but rather the choice to do something despite the fear.

What happens, though, when it's the fear of potential rejection by someone you care deeply for?

Friendships - any kind of relationship - should never be taken for granted. They could vanish in an instant, for a number of reasons. Perhaps you get into an argument that turns hostile and the bonds of friendship are shattered irrevocably. Perhaps you simply drift apart due to time, location, waning interests, or other factors that leave no ill will on either party but simply come as the result of circumstances you have no control over.

Or, perhaps, it comes as the result of unreciprocated feelings.

It's impossible to gauge which of these results causes the most emotional pain. Everyone is different. Every situation is different, every friendship is different, every romance is different. But what everyone can agree on is losing a friendship you've built up to be so sturdy and powerful is a fate that wouldn't be wished on every the most reprehensible of people.

As all of these thoughts circled in Desmond's head, his train of thought got lost by the sound of the front door opening. Instinctively, he hid the flower he was holding behind his back. Out the door walked Princess Sofia, her hair tied up in a pony tale and her pink dress flowing as always. The princess caught a glimpse of Desmond sitting there and she let out a smile. "Hi Desmond."

"H-Hi Sofia." He said nervously. "I-I was looking for you."

"I've been helping the fairies clean up the school after the graduation party they held." She turned to face the school, memories of her time there flowing through her mind. "I'm really going to miss this place."

"Me too. But it'll be cool to get to go somewhere new and learn new things."

She turned back to the nervous prince. "Sounds like someone's excited to be headed to the School for Science and Alchemy."

"I am! And are you ready for the EverRealm Academy?"

"Sure am." She carefully trekked down the stairs to meet him at his place of seating. "I admit I wasn't too sure about it at first, but if I'm going to be the Protector of the EverRealm, I suppose it wouldn't be so bad to go and learn everything I can."

"That make sense." He got up from his seat and started walking away from the school, with Sofia following next to him. "It's...going to be weird next year."

"What is?"

"Going to this new place, and not having yo-" He immediately stopped himself and scrambled to redo his statement. "I mean, not having some of my friends at school. We've grown really close, and it'd be a shame to lose that."

Contrary to what Desmond managed to convinced himself of, Sofia _did_ pick up on his flub, but she chose to keep quiet for the time being. "But that's not going to happen." She said sweetly. "We might all be going to different schools but that doesn't mean we have to grow apart. We'll still have the afternoons, the weekends, the holidays, summer...we might not have as much time but we'll just learn to make the most of the time that we have."

He looked up at her and gave a smile. "Y-Yeah I guess you're right."

She gently put her hand on his shoulder. "It's all going to be okay, Desmond. None of us are going to drift apart." He said nothing, at least with words. But the smile did all the talking. Although it did fade slowly as he sunk into deeper thought and looked away from her again. "Is something the matter?"

His eyes quickly darted in her direction. "No, no, I'm okay." He stumbled to say; in doing so he stepped awkwardly and his hands came out from behind his back, revealing the flower he was holding. He took a deep breath; Sofia remained silent. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure, ask me anything."

"What do you do...when y-you really like someone and you want to tell them but you just don't know how?" Though Desmond did a good job of not tipping his hand, Sofia believed she knew what he was talking about. She smiled.

"I...I'm not sure. That h-hasn't really happened to me yet." She spoke the truth...sort of. "What I know is it's not good to keep your feelings bottled up. They'll gnaw at you on and on until they break out in a way you didn't want them to. So...I guess I'd say be direct with this person. Just tell them how you feel and let whatever happens happen."

"Even..." He looked into her eyes this time, lowering the flower. "Even if they say no? O-Or worse, they laugh?"

She sighed and gently grabbed his arm. "They might. They might not. But isn't confronting the truth better than spending time wondering what if?"

He sighed again, altering his vision from the flower to Sofia. Her light blue eyes glimmered with the suns' reflection. Her smile got butterflies roaming in Desmond's stomach. "You're right."

"And hey, I'm sure they'll appreciate the flower." She took note of the flower. Unfortunately the flower was showing signs of starting to die from being out of the ground for such a lengthy time. "It's the thought that counts. Or at least...I say it _should_ be." Unconsciously she grabbed one of the hands holding the flower, which brought a smile to both of them. "May I ask who it's for?"

Desmond's face went red as he pulled his hands and the flower slightly away, which drew concern from Sofia. "I..."

"You don't have to tell me." Again she suspected she knew the answer but chose to keep quiet. It was a delicate position for her; possibly aware of what he was trying to convey but unsure whether to speak up for fear that she would either be rejected, or that she was wrong. "Is it for Amber?" She giggled upon saying this. "Amber's more of a big gesture princess, but I don't think she'll laugh at you or anything." Sofia continued walking. Desmond stopped. And it didn't take long for Sofia to realize this either. The boy was looking at his feet and twiddling his thumbs. It seemed that Sofia had her answer. She carefully walked back towards the boy. "Desmond...was that flower meant for me?" She had a slight blush going now.

Desmond, though, was bright red. He hesitated before looking up at her. She smiled, and he nodded faster than humanly possible. She slowly grabbed one of his hands and brought it up to her level, still smiling. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure this out, but it was important for both of them to let Desmond be comfortable enough to admit it on his own. You cannot force someone to face their trials or demons, but you can stand by their side and support them while they do it. For Desmond, this was his trial. And it was time to face it head on, even if he was facing the possibility of losing his friendship with this girl. "Yes."

He loosened his grip on the flower, allowing Sofia to take it for herself. Though it was embarrassingly wilted by this point, she still smiled & cherished it. "It's...lovely."

"But it's wilted."

"I meant the thought was lovely." He said nothing; he tried to put on a brave smile for her and speak something - anything - that would sound coherent but it proved to be a monumental task. Sweat began dripping him his forehead. Sofia said nothing but continued smiling at him, her patience completely unwavering. It was easy to notice that his nerves were getting the best of him again. "It's okay, Desmond. You can just say it."

Whatever it was, those seven words pierces his skin and finally shook off enough of the fear crippling him to allow him to speak. "I...I really like you, Sofia. You've always been so nice and considerate to me. You never made fun of me for...for being shy. You're incredibly sweet and...and I think you're pretty too." The both of them blushed again, Sofia still smiling. "I'm not looking forward to having to separate from you this Fall, b-but I don't know if I'm ready for a relationship...I just...I was scared that I'd hate myself for not saying anything more than if I did say something." He sighed loudly and looked away. He convinced himself he was ready for the rejection, but he was wrong.

In fact, he was wrong about both.

Sofia shared her concerns about not being ready, but she still took it upon herself to approach the boy and hug him. Without hesitation he hugged her back. When they parted, she was still smiling; finally he was able to put a smile on his own face. "Desmond, you're a gentleman. You're funny, you're kind, I really admire your bravery...you'll make a great king for your kingdom one day."

"Thanks. And you'll be a great protector." The two didn't move from their spot; they kept their gaze at each other and continued smiling. While it wasn't going exactly as Desmond had hoped or even had feared, he was still bubbling optimism within that the end result would ultimately be a good one. "I'm sorry to spring this up so suddenly like this..."

"No, don't be sorry. It's better to put it out there than keep it all in, anyway. Besides, I'm glad you said something."

He raised an eyebrow. "You are?" She nodded calmly. "But you're not...are you?"

It was now her turn to look away. Her face gave off a compilation of conflicted emotions. Desmond had no idea what he should even do or say in this instance. So he did the only thing that came natural to him: he hugged her again. She didn't hesitate to return it. For the longest time they stayed in that position silently. Neither said anything, but smiles crept on both of their faces. It was if their hearts were telling them, if nothing else, that everything was going to work out for the better.

Unbeknownst to either of them, Princess Amber and Prince James had arrived at the gate of Royal Prep to walk Sofia home. They took notice of the two young kids talking. They weren't able to make out any words but they made the correct decision to hang back and let them work out whatever was going on. Besides, getting the juicy details from Sofia later would be loads more fun.

Sofia and Desmond finally departed from their hug, both still smiling. "I don't know if I'm ready for a relationship either..."

Desmond's face fell, hard. He convinced himself he was prepared, but it's impossible to truly prepare for something like this. "I'm sorry, Sofia. I hope I didn't make things awkward between us now. I don't want us to stop being friends-"

"Desmond..." She took his hand again and gentle squeezed. "It's not what you think. As Protector of the EverRealm I'm going to have a lot of responsibility. I'm probably going to have to go on many missions to protect our home from evil that want to take it over. That's a lot of time that I have to dedicate to the cause. I know a relationship requires a lot of focus and time, a-and I wouldn't feel good starting one with anyone - even you - and then not having the time to spend with them. I don't know how long I'll have these responsibilities, and I don't know yet if I'm able to balance my duties as Protector with having a personal life."

A bit of the grief Desmond was feeling was starting to melt away. Though the disappointment was still evidence, it was a different kind of disappointment. "I guess that makes sense."

"Besides, we're both still young. There's still so much time for us to explore the world, have the greatest time of our lives. We don't know what's going to happen."

"That _is_ true."

They both shared another hug. "I'm really glad you said something. And I...I'm really glad to have you in my life, Desmond."

He smiled again. "Me too."

I'm sure someday we'll both be ready, and I'm sure someday it'll be really nice, and totally worth the wait. I...I just hope I haven't disappointed you today."

"Of course not, no. I...didn't really expect anything of this anyway." He looked away and blushed, but with a warm smile. "It's just a weight off my shoulders now that it's out there."

"I'm glad. Hey, promise me something?"

He looked back up at her. "What's that?"

"Promise you'll write me all the time while you're at the School of Science and Alchemy?" That school was a boarding school, which means Desmond would be essentially living there during the school year.

"Promise!" He enthusiastically said to her.

"Good. I want to hear about _everything." _Another laugh was shared between them. The air was truly clear now. His belief that nothing would come of this rendezvous was wrong: it wasn't exactly what he hoped for nor what he feared, but it was still something worthwhile: closure, of sorts. It was something. While he was contemplating these thoughts Sofia caught wind of his siblings standing at the gate. They patiently waved to her, with Amber holding back giggles. "I guess that's my cue to go." She turned back to Desmond. "See you tomorrow?"

A big smile crept onto his face as he nodded. "See you tomorrow."

Sofia took a deep breath. Clutching the wilted flower, she leaned in and gave him a sweet kiss on the cheek. His face went bright red. He was surprised, but also deeply elated. She took off running for her siblings. "Bye Desmond!" He was unable to speak but be rapidly waved back at her with a huge idiotic grin. As for Princess Amber and Prince James, they wanted details.

"So...care to tell us what _that_ was all about?" She remarked rather slyly. Sofia rolled her eyes and laughed.

"When we get back to the castle."

Desmond was left standing by himself, holding the cheek Sofia had kissed. The ball was rolling now. It was rolling slowly, but it _was_ rolling. If anything this encounter gave him to motivation to continue trekking forward. The School of Science and Alchemy was waiting for him in the fall, and he was more than eager to start the next page.

As for the two of them, he concluded Sofia was right. The time wasn't right for either of them yet, nor were the circumstances. But both were confident that some day they would be. And they would be ready for that day.

**The End.**

**Just a nice, simple fluff piece that came into my head one night while I was working on other stories. This show is very dear to me and I miss it greatly, and I hope you enjoyed reading it.**


End file.
